1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable assist grip which a passenger uses to keep his/her riding posture in an interior of a vehicle such as an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a vehicle such as an automobile is provided with an assist grip in its interior so that a passenger can use the assist grip to keep his/her riding posture when the vehicle body shakes. In general, an assist grip is installed in the vicinity of a roof-side rail in the vehicle interior, and has a handle shape to provide a comfortable grip for a passenger.
Recently, instead of the ever-fixed assist grip, a pull-out type assist grip has been used. The pull-out type assist grip has a grip member, which is retracted in a housing member while not in use. Depending on the necessity, a passenger pulls out the grip member from the retraction position to use it.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-343374 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses an assist grip having a configuration in which its grip member is rotatable from a retraction position to a grip position. Here, the grip member is in the retraction position while retracted, and is in the grip position allowing a passenger to grip the grip member with fingers, after the passenger pulls out from the retraction position.
The assist grip disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an alternate type lock system and a spring. The lock system has a function of holding the grip member in the retraction position; and a function of releasing the grip member from being held when the grip member located in the retraction position is further pushed in. The spring is configured to bias the grip member toward the grip position.
In the assist grip disclosed in Patent Document 1, the grip member in the retracted position is unlocked when pushed with fingers, and thereby the grip member is automatically rotates to the grip position by being biased by the spring. This condition allows a passenger to grip the grip member, and thus to keep his/her riding posture even if the vehicle shakes.
However, in the assist grip disclosed in Patent Document 1, the grip member, having a U-shape, is directly attached to the vehicle by use of rotation shafts. Accordingly, the grip member is exposed enough for a passenger to see the whole appearance of a side surface thereof even while retracted in the housing member. Thus, the assist grip disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem of having a poor appearance while the grip member is retracted in the housing member.
In addition, the grip member disclosed in Patent Document 1 is directly attached to the vehicle in a manner that two bearing parts extending downward from both end portions of a grip part are attached to the vehicle by use of the two rotation shafts, respectively. For this reason, in order to retract the grip member into the housing member, the grip part of the grip member needs to be rotated to a higher position against a biasing force of the spring. Additionally, after rotated to the higher position, the grip part located there further needs to be pushed into the housing member to be locked by the alternate type lock system. For this reason, the passenger has to extend his/her fingers above the location to which the assist grip is attached. This makes the grip member disclosed in Patent Document 1 difficult to use.
Furthermore, because the assist grip disclosed in Patent Document 1 is of a push-open type using the alternate type lock system, a passenger has to rearrange his/her fingers from when unlocking the grip member to pull out the grip member to when actually griping the grip member. Thus, the assist grip disclosed in Patent Document 1 is not user-friendly.